More fun than a goose and an owl

By Brittany Ochtinsky

Senior Reporter

ROCHESTER/GRAND RAPIDS — The rivalry between Oakland andDavenport intensifies every time the two teams hit the ice, but now they’replaying for more than just bragging rights.

Also up for grabs is a black goose with “OU” emblazoned onits chest and a black and red owl, which reside in the custody of Oakland untiltheir next meeting after the Golden Grizzlies’ 4-3 shootout victory over thePanthers last Saturday.

The scheme began after Davenport’s 4-3 win at the Onyx Fridaynight, when a few Panthers snuck into Oakland’s locker room and kidnapped thegoose, but the Grizzlies recaptured it before Saturday’s game when the owl wasthrown into the mix.

The Panthers looked to be taking both birds home late in thethird period, up 3-1, but the momentum shifted in Oakland’s favor after StevePiccoli squared off at center ice with Davenport’s Wes Baughman. The fightsparked something inside the Grizzlies, and after pulling goalie Collin Chase,Brent Cooper and Kevin Kranker scored two quick goals to force the game intoovertime.

The 4-on-4, five-minute overtime led to a five-man shootoutand the birds sat facing each other at center ice. After five rounds without agoal scored, the game headed into sudden death.

On his second time around, in the seventh round, Cooper beatChris Joswiak and Chase held off his final shooter to give Oakland the win.

“I consider myself a good shootout guy and I was mad atmyself for not getting the first one,” said Cooper.

The Grizzlies quickly skated to center ice and triumphantlyswiped the owl and the goose.

“It wasn’t our best game, but the guys battled back when weneeded to and it showed a lot of character,” said head coach Sean Hogan.

Brett Haugh got Oakland on the board in the second period withhis sixth goal of the season.

Friday night’s game also saw a momentum shift in theGrizzlies favor after Colin Ronayne dropped the gloves with Davenport’s AdamTomaciari. Each player was assessed only a four-minute double-minor forroughing instead of the standard suspension for the remainder of the game andthe following one.

“Last game, there was some bad blood, he said some thingsand then he was out there hitting Kranker, so I took it upon myself to takecare of it,” said Ronayne.

Dennis Capa netted his first career goal following the fight to cut thePanthers’ two goal lead in half, but Davenport scored another to regain thelead.

Then Cooper and Kyle McMahon, who tipped Ronayne’s rocketfrom the blueline, evened up the score before Davenport scored the go-aheadgoal halfway through the third period and Oakland couldn’t come up with enoughoffense to force the game into overtime.

“Before the game, we talked about controlling the thingsthat are controllable: our intensity, work ethic, preparation not onlyphysically but also mentally and our desire to win and we had all those. Acouple bounces didn’t go our way, but overall our effort was there and I can’tbe upset at the effort,” said Hogan.

Much can be said about the Davenport rivalry, but to fullyunderstand, it has to be experienced first-hand. Now the 12 newcomers toOakland’s roster understand what it really means.

“It definitely lived up to the hype, it was intense butfun,” said Kranker. “I’m happy we got this duck and owl stuff started, it shouldbring a little tradition and fun for years to come.”